The #EvalNerd

I have worked with a variety of Collective Impact collaborations over the years. The model is alluring, but neglects to explicity directly address the institutionalized injustices present in our society. As evaluators, it is vital that we support programs and policies that not only acknowledge injustice, but actively incorporate practices into our work to counteract the racism, sexism, and other bias that may implicitly exist in ourselves and others. Inspired by work in the non-profit sector that is looking to move beyond the Collective Impact model for more inclusive practices, I developed six principles for collaborating for social equity as evaluators.

Principle 1: Social inequities are often firmly established in policies and procedures of a program. Evaluators must address issues of social, economic, gender, and racial justice and structural racism in evaluation questions and practices.

Principle 2: Use a participatory or empowerment approach when working with marginalized communities. Community members should have equal power in data collection and interpretation decisions to minimize an evaluator’s implicit bias.

Principle 3: Work to support internal evaluation capacity building in the community.

Principle 4. Use your place of privilege as an expert to amplify community voice and findings. Advocate for use of your evaluation findings in changes to policies and practices.

Principle 5: Refer to existing community-engaged evaluation and research when making recommendations while also being mindful that structural injustice necessitates reviewing the existing evidence-base with a critical lens.

Principle 6. Be vigilant of power dynamics. Take note of who is in the room and who should be in the room. Take note of who is in the room but has no voice at the table.

Ready to take the next step? Check your implicit bias here.​What do you think? Do you incorporate practices that explicitly acknowledge social injustice and bias in your evaluation work?